A Manager's Guide to Data Warehousing

Compliance requirements are here to stay. Prepare your company for the growing challenge. A Wall Street Journal/Harris poll revealed that two thirds of investors express doubts in the ability of corporate boards of directors to provide effective oversight. In the shadow of recent global scandals involving businesses such as Parmalat and WorldCom, Manager's Guide to Compliance: Best Practices and Case Studies is essential reading for you, whether your organization is a major corporation or a small business. This timely handbook places U.S. and global regulatory information, as well as critical compliance guidance, in an easy-to-access format and helps you make sense of all the complex issues connected with fraud and compliance. «Wide perspectives and best practices combined deliver a punch that will knock your 'SOX' off! The author has blended together a critical mix necessary for effectively handling the requirements of SOX.» —Rob Nance, Publisher, AccountingWEB, Inc. «Robust compliance and corporate governance is an absolute necessity in today's business environment. This new book by Anthony Tarantino is an authoritative guide to understanding and implementing compliance and regulatory requirements in the United States and around the world. From SOX to COSO to ERM, this book covers them all.» —Martin T. Biegelman, Certified Fraud Examiner, Fellow and Regent Emeritus of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and coauthor of Executive Roadmap to Fraud Prevention and Internal Control: Creating a Culture of Compliance «If compliance wasn't difficult enough, now companies are faced with a barrage of technology vendors claiming to automate compliance as if it were a project. In his new book, Dr. Tarantino paints the reality of the situation: companies need to embrace the broader tenets of governance and use technology to embed governance policies and controls into their daily business processes. Only then can they gain business value from their compliance investments.» —Chris Capdevila, CEO and cofounder, LogicalApps

"Daniel Cassidy has written a detailed, comprehensive guide for managers to understand and succeed at the ongoing process of managing a company retirement plan. If motivating your employees is important to you as a manager, this book is an essential key to your success." –Josh Gordon, author of Presentations That Change Minds and Selling 2.0 Written by renowned retirement benefits planning specialist Daniel Cassidy, A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management focuses on current best practices regarding company-sponsored retirement plans within the United States. Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this valuable guide will aid managers in applying strategic thinking to their retirement plan management activities–whether it be a 401(k) plan, investing in company stock, or a traditional defined benefit plan. It will also help you to view retirement plans in a holistic manner–ever more necessary given the unpredictable economy and recent troubles with companies such as Enron and WorldCom. Covering everything from administrative issues to financial and legal responsibilities, A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management will allow you to make the best decisions possible while managing this ongoing process and help you find solutions that best fit your organization's specific needs.

A compendium of ready-made forms for managing every project in line with the latest PMBOK® Guide—Fifth Edition This valuable companion to the Project Management Institute's A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Fifth Edition presents a comprehensive and practical set of forms and reports that help project managers apply the concepts and practices described in the PMBOK® Guide. Designed specifically to assist both new and experienced project managers in handling all aspects of a project, this edition of A Project Manager's Book of Forms contains forms that cover all the process groups: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. It also includes some forms not mentioned in the PMBOK® Guide, which you will find helpful in managing your project. Use the forms as a guide in collecting and organizing project information, or as a template for ensuring a set of consistent data on all projects. The forms can also be adopted on an organizational level to enable a repeatable approach to project management. Completely editable electronic versions of all the blank forms, in Microsoft Office–compatible format, are available on an accompanying website. You may use them as is or tailor them to your own needs. The PMBOK® Guide covers the processes for managing a project; this book gives you a handy road map of forms to use to make every project just a bit smoother from start to finish. (PMBOK is a registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.)

The only how-to guide offering a unified, systemic approach to acquiring, cleaning, and managing data in R Every experienced practitioner knows that preparing data for modeling is a painstaking, time-consuming process. Adding to the difficulty is that most modelers learn the steps involved in cleaning and managing data piecemeal, often on the fly, or they develop their own ad hoc methods. This book helps simplify their task by providing a unified, systematic approach to acquiring, modeling, manipulating, cleaning, and maintaining data in R. Starting with the very basics, data scientists Samuel E. Buttrey and Lyn R. Whitaker walk readers through the entire process. From what data looks like and what it should look like, they progress through all the steps involved in getting data ready for modeling. They describe best practices for acquiring data from numerous sources; explore key issues in data handling, including text/regular expressions, big data, parallel processing, merging, matching, and checking for duplicates; and outline highly efficient and reliable techniques for documenting data and recordkeeping, including audit trails, getting data back out of R, and more. The only single-source guide to R data and its preparation, it describes best practices for acquiring, manipulating, cleaning, and maintaining data Begins with the basics and walks readers through all the steps necessary to get data ready for the modeling process Provides expert guidance on how to document the processes described so that they are reproducible Written by seasoned professionals, it provides both introductory and advanced techniques Features case studies with supporting data and R code, hosted on a companion website A Data Scientist's Guide to Acquiring, Cleaning and Managing Data in R is a valuable working resource/bench manual for practitioners who collect and analyze data, lab scientists and research associates of all levels of experience, and graduate-level data mining students.

Driven by Data offers valuable tips and general guidelines about data-based methods and the difficulties surrounding the implementation of data-driven instruction. Through a CD-ROM, this guidebook provides all the tools needed to launch data-driven instruction effectively, such as an implementation rubric, meeting agendas, calendars, assessment templates, and more. Written by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, who has worked with over 1,000 schools across the nation, the book clearly shows how to maneuver through assessments and statistics. Bambrick-Santoyo offers vital tips, such as: how to create a data culture, how to run a successful data analysis meeting, how to write quality assessments, and how to deal with resistance from your teachers. The book also includes twenty case studies of high-performing schools. School leaders will find this resource useful for achieving remarkable results and immense gains, regardless of the school's background, leader, or demographic. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Driven by Data offers valuable tips and general guidelines about data-based methods and the difficulties surrounding the implementation of data-driven instruction. Through a CD-ROM, this guidebook provides all the tools needed to launch data-driven instruction effectively, such as an implementation rubric, meeting agendas, calendars, assessment templates, and more. Written by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, who has worked with over 1,000 schools across the nation, the book clearly shows how to maneuver through assessments and statistics. Bambrick-Santoyo offers vital tips, such as: how to create a data culture, how to run a successful data analysis meeting, how to write quality assessments, and how to deal with resistance from your teachers. The book also includes twenty case studies of high-performing schools. School leaders will find this resource useful for achieving remarkable results and immense gains, regardless of the school's background, leader, or demographic. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Praise for the First Edition “…a well-written book on data analysis and data mining that provides an excellent foundation…” —CHOICE “This is a must-read book for learning practical statistics and data analysis…” —Computing Reviews.com A proven go-to guide for data analysis, Making Sense of Data I: A Practical Guide to Exploratory Data Analysis and Data Mining, Second Edition focuses on basic data analysis approaches that are necessary to make timely and accurate decisions in a diverse range of projects. Based on the authors’ practical experience in implementing data analysis and data mining, the new edition provides clear explanations that guide readers from almost every field of study. In order to facilitate the needed steps when handling a data analysis or data mining project, a step-by-step approach aids professionals in carefully analyzing data and implementing results, leading to the development of smarter business decisions. The tools to summarize and interpret data in order to master data analysis are integrated throughout, and the Second Edition also features: Updated exercises for both manual and computer-aided implementation with accompanying worked examples New appendices with coverage on the freely available Traceis™ software, including tutorials using data from a variety of disciplines such as the social sciences, engineering, and finance New topical coverage on multiple linear regression and logistic regression to provide a range of widely used and transparent approaches Additional real-world examples of data preparation to establish a practical background for making decisions from data Making Sense of Data I: A Practical Guide to Exploratory Data Analysis and Data Mining, Second Edition is an excellent reference for researchers and professionals who need to achieve effective decision making from data. The Second Edition is also an ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in data analysis and data mining and is appropriate for cross-disciplinary courses found within computer science and engineering departments.

A great introductory book that details reliable approaches to problems met in standard microarray data analyses. It provides examples of established approaches such as cluster analysis, function prediction, and principle component analysis. Discover real examples to illustrate the key concepts of data analysis. Written for those without any advanced background in math, statistics, or computer sciences, this book is essential for anyone interested in harnessing the immense potential of microarrays in biology and medicine.

Real World Scenarios for Practical Insights into the Field of Purchasing and Supply Management Whether you're a purchasing or supply management professional seeking to validate the skills and knowledge acquired through years of practical experience, or a relative newcomer to the field looking to strengthen your resume, the C.P.M. certification from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) provides you with the means to do so. The Purchasing and Supply Manager's Guide to the C.P.M. Exam was developed to help you prepare for the four modules that comprise the C.P.M. exam, and includes additional study tools designed to reinforce understanding of crucial subject areas. KEY TOPICS INCLUDE: Purchasing Process. Identifying requirements, preparation of solicitations, supplier analysis, contract execution, implementation, and administration. Supply Environment. Negotiations, information technology, quality issues, internal relationships, and external relationships. Value Enhancement Strategies. Sourcing analysis, supply and inventory management, value enhancing methods, forecasting and strategies. Management. Management and organization, and human resource management. This Study Guide is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated in any way with the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). ISM and C.P.M. are trademarks or registered marks of the Institute for Supply Management. This publication may be used in assisting students to prepare for the C.P.M. exam, but neither Harbor Light Press nor ISM warrants that use of this publication will ensure passing of the exam. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Data mining is well on its way to becoming a recognized discipline in the overlapping areas of IT, statistics, machine learning, and AI. Practical Data Mining for Business presents a user-friendly approach to data mining methods, covering the typical uses to which it is applied. The methodology is complemented by case studies to create a versatile reference book, allowing readers to look for specific methods as well as for specific applications. The book is formatted to allow statisticians, computer scientists, and economists to cross-reference from a particular application or method to sectors of interest.